Semiconductor co. Syntiant Corp., best known for its tiny chips that enable devices to recognize voices and sounds, is making big headlines, with a $150M deal to buy Knowles Corp.’s consumer micro-electro-mechanical systems microphones division.
The purchase – consisting of $70M in cash and $80M in Syntiant Series D preferred stock – marks a huge step-up in size for Kurt Busch’s 7-year-old co., which to date has raised over $120M in funding, and hasn’t made any other large buys.
Regulatory filings indicate that the firm’s lined up debt financing to complete the deal, in addition to the $80M equity financing.
$1.6B-valued Knowles (NYSE: KN) has also agreed to provide Syntiant with up to $15M in financing, in connection with the Irvine-based co.’s obligation to have $40M on its balance sheet.
Busch, a Business Journal Innovator of the Year Award winner in 2022, and the keynote speaker for the 2023 edition of the event, has said he’s aiming to take Syntiant public in the next few years.
For more on the Knowles deal, see Kevin Costelloe’s story on page 6.
Alteryx’s 183K-SF lease for a new HQ at the Spectrum Terrace, struck in 2019, marked the largest local office lease in nearly 2 years and highlighted the firm’s rapid ascension to become one of OC’s most valuable public companies, with the data analytics co. at one point counting a $10B+ valuation.
Five years after that deal, a lot has changed for both Alteryx and Spectrum Terrace.
In 2023, one of the two buildings Alteryx initially occupied at the high-end Irvine Co. complex found a new occupant, Boot Barn (NYSE: BOOT), after Alteryx and another tenant at the 17100 Laguna Canyon Rd. office opted to consolidate operations.
Now, Alteryx is out of the office park altogether, with the former Critical Care division of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) setting up its base at the 17200 Laguna Canyon Rd. office that had served as the HQ for Alteryx.
See Yuika Yoshida’s story on this page for more on the new local operations of what’s now known as BD Advanced Patient Monitoring, headed by former Edwards exec Katie Szyman.
Alteryx, which was taken private last year after being acquired for $4.4B, now lists its HQ as Irvine’s Park Place office complex, where it was based prior to moving to Spectrum Terrace.
Wi-Fi router co. TP-Link got its start in China in 1996, and last year established its U.S. base in Irvine.
The firm, which garnered headlines this summer after U.S. lawmakers suggested the company’s products could be used for spying purposes by China’s government, has just upped its local presence.
It paid a reported $40.6M for 5 Peters Canyon Rd., a mid-rise office near the HQ of Kia Automotive. See next week’s print edition for more on the deal, one of the larger local office buys in OC this year.
